@gavenv I highly recommend learning what is developmentally appropriate for children. Many parents have expectations that are unrealistic for a child's age.
Common examples I encounter:
Impulse control. Impulse control does not
begin to develop until 3.5-4 years old. A 2 year old may understand that they should not touch something, that does not mean they can resist the urge to touch something.
Empathy. Empathy does not
begin to develop until 2 years. At 2 years old, a child begins to understand that other people have feelings. It takes much longer to understand that their actions have consequences and can hurt others. Even at age 5, children do not routinely stop to think about another person's perspective. However, around age 5, they can begin to understand hypothetical situations such as, "how would you feel if another child took your toy?"
Remorse. Children typically do not feel remorse until age 6-7. A 3 year old that doesn't feel remorseful for hurting another child is not a sociopath. They're just 3, that's normal.
Throwing, biting, pulling hair, and hitting. Toddlers are
violent, being violent back does not put an end to the violence. An 18 month old
cannot connect you pulling their hair and that hurting to it hurts you when they pull your hair. At 18 months, they don't even understand that you can feel pain. Toddlers are also hard wired to throw things. It's very important to humans evolutionarily (we're the only species that can throw objects with decent accuracy and it has been very important to our survival), so this is hard wired into toddlers. They learn a lot of very important things by throwing objects, such as how gravity works, how objects interact with different surfaces, how to predict where a thrown object will land, etc.
Which isn't to say that these topics cannot be addressed before those ages. It is important to understand what your child is capable of. I tell my toddlers all day long not to hit each other. My expectations for compliance are low because they are not at a point developmentally where they can understand.
I also highly recommend talking about gentle discipline and what that means. It's a hard thing for a lot of people to wrap their heads around. Gentle Parenting is not permissive parenting. Gentle discipline is very different. It's not punitive. It is not based on obedience. You're raising a future adult and giving your child the tools to be a well adjusted adult, not an obedient child. It's a lot of preventing situations where your child is likely to fail. If a child is too tempted to mess with a forbidden item, move it. If you know the answer to a question, don't ask. It just sets a child up to lie and doesn't benefit anything. My toddlers aren't great about holding hands so I use child leashes.
Also, most "bad" behavior is unmet needs.
Gentle Parenting doesn't mean you never let your child cry or be upset. It doesn't mean
only kindly asking your child to do something. My kid doesn't want to leave the park? "I understand you don't want to leave because you're having fun. I'm glad you're having a good time. That sucks when you have to stop doing something fun. It's really frustrating when you don't get your way. Unfortunately, we are going home now, so it's time to get in the car. You can walk with me and hold my hand, or I can carry you."
My twins throw tantrums when I don't let them steal each other's food. I don't give in. We power through them. I stay with them, support them, rub their backs or hold them. "Yes, this is very frustrating. I know that you want [twin's] food. That's their food. You can't have their food, you have your own food." After a couple minutes, they get over it and go back to eating their own food. When we go out to eat, they don't sit near each other to avoid this problem. I try to keep them separated at home, but it's harder when it's just me.
